Pianist featured at Baum Series

The William C. Baum Endowment Fund at Grand Valley was established in 1998 to support an annual series featuring a special speaker on issues in American law or a recital by a noted pianist. The featured guest this year is pianist Dmitri Novgorodsky, who won First Prize at the Kazakhstan National Piano Competition at the age of 16, and later won the Gold Medal of the National Festival of the Arts.

Novgorodsky, currently an assistant professor of piano at the SUNY Fredonia School of Music, will perform Sunday, April 13, from 3- 4:30 p.m. in the Sherman Van Solkema Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus.

After graduating from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, he immigrated to Israel. He later received a full scholarship for advanced studies at Yale University where he received Master of Music, Master of Musical Arts, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees.

In 1999, Novgorodsky was granted the “Extraordinary Abilities in the Arts” permanent U.S. residence, as one of a small percentage of those who have risen to the top of their field of endeavor. He has performed in Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Kazakhstan, Israel, France, Austria, Canada, Turkey, Taiwan, and in the U.S. at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.

The Baum Endowment was established to reflect the shared interests of Baum family members. Professor Emeritus William Baum, who died in 2007, was a political science professor at Grand Valley for 40 years and retired in 2005. Nancy Baum, a Grand Valley dance educator, died in 2011. Their son Jefferson taught dance at Grand Valley from 2000-2007.

Open to the public. Free admission. For more information, contact the Political Science Department at (616) 331-2320, or Music and Dance Department at (616) 331-3484.